How to Create a Birthday Party for a Horse

Birthdays are not just for humans. Horses, especially registered breed horses, have known birthdays (otherwise known as their foal date). My bratty Thoroughbred horse foaled on April 4th, 2003 – making him 12 this year. What were you doing in the spring of 2003? What was I doing back in the spring of 2003? I was in my last semester of high school as Griffin was just a foal frolicking in pastures and nursing from his mom. This year, it was beautiful day for Griffin’s birthday with the sun shining and the temperature reaching double digits.

Griffin going for a birthday gallop.

How do you celebrate a horse’s birthday?

Horse’s generally have a very easy and universal wishlist for their birthdays (or any holiday for that matter):

treats

a good and thorough grooming

a roll without blankets on

and more treats

Their needs are pretty simple. Nothing super extravagant like an exclusive or coveted fashion piece or the latest piece of technology that a human may want. Did we mention that they love treats? 🙂

Giving Griffin a well deserved and much needed brushing

Griffin’s Birthday

I prepped a couple of things a day in advance. JD’s kitchen turned into a horse treat bakery as I created some homemade horse treats called “Oat Balls”. This is the recipe that I used, as it was very easy and did not require horse specific foods from the local feed mill. All ingredients were found at the local grocery store. JD and I actually taste tested an oatball and decided that they were not completely terrible and in extreme circumstances, we could probably tolerate eating multiples of them.

Homemade Oatballs made from JD’s kitchen.

The local dollar store was also an essential source for getting some of the birthday decorations. I did not have candles to mark Griffin’s commemorative twelfth birthday, so I had to pick those up. Balloons and banners are also must-haves for a birthday celebration, so I ensured to get those. Word of caution, it may be best to put your horse in the stall first before decorating it. Also, gauge your horse’s temperament because they may not cope well with birthday paraphernalia adorning their safe haven stall. Because of his brattiness, I omitted traditional party hats. It was comical to watch Griffin’s reaction, as he kept tilting his head sideways through the doorway of his decorated stall to grab a sniff and bite of his treats. He seemed to think that the birthday banner would come crashing down on him, even though it weighs 1/100th of a pound.

Presenting Griffin with his birthday treats.

I am a planner and love to coordinate and craft and bake for birthdays. Remember I attempted to coordinate a birthday party for my roommate? If your horse does not have a birthday, make one up for them! They will be sure to love the special attention and extra love.